No. 1 Bulldogs Take Winning Streak to Bay State

Sarah Smith and Rob Struckett.

Apr 05, 2012

Bulldogs Set to Sail In Massachusetts

NEW HAVEN, Conn.—The No. 1 Yale coed sailing team will look to continue its three-week win streak at the Marchiando Friis Team race hosted by Tufts and MIT in the Boston Area. The Bulldogs will also sail at the Admiral Alymers Trophy at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, Mass.

Coming off last weekend's victory at the Southern New England Team Race, the Bulldogs are well prepared for the Jan Friis/Lynne Marchiando team race this weekend. Tufts and MIT will play co-hosts as half of the teams will report to Tufts on Day 1 while the other half will report to MIT. This will allow for more sailing, as both sets of teams will be able to spend the entire day on the water. It also allows for more teams to compete. On the second day, Sunday, the teams with the best records from each location will race against each other, while the bottom half of the teams will race in a silver medal at the other site.

The Bulldogs will face off against other top team racing teams such as Roger Williams and Boston College. They will report to Mystic Lake, the Tufts sailing venue, for the first round on Saturday, which will mean they will have the opportunity to sail Larks. Because of Mystic Lake's lack of breeze, Tufts sails these boats that are great in light air. Tufts also equips the boats with flat-topped mains to increase the breeze range in which racing is possible.

The regatta is named for Jan Friis and Lynne Marchiando, two significant contributors to college sailing. Friis was the founder of Tufts sailing program while Marchiando was an exceptional sailor at MIT. Last year the Bulldogs finished fifth at the regatta, losing to one team in a three-way tie for fourth. They had an excellent first day but struggled a bit on day two. However, last weekend the Bulldogs showed that they can sail consistently over both days.

Another team of Bulldogs will head to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy for the Admiral Alymers Trophy. Racing will take place on the Great Herring Pond, an infamously small and shifty sailing venue. Last year, the Bulldogs finished sixth at the event.

Because the Bulldogs are only entered in two regattas, rather than the normal three, many members of the team will get a much-needed weekend off. Those who are sailing will report to the two venues at 9:30 a.m.